Sunday, February 5, 2012

In
recent weeks, the likes of Ricky Gervais and Bill Maher have been
vociferous in proclaiming their atheist point of view. I have
no problem with that. I do have a problem with those – like
Maher – who proclaim that atheism is not a religion. It
is.
I am the child of an atheist father and a Catholic mother. I believe
there is a God, that Jesus was a great man but that he would laugh
if we told him that he died to end original sin. And in recent
years, I have become known as “an ancient alien theorist”,
which in the eyes of many means that I believe that our ancestors
mistook extra-terrestrial beings (though I prefer to label them
non-human intelligences) as God or gods.
My dad believes that when he dies, there will be general nothingness.
He was also convinced – until we discussed this point –
that as a result, when he dies, there will be general nothingness,
whereas when other people die, they will have to see whether or
not they encounter God. It doesn’t work that way. What happens
at death and what you believe happens at death is irrelevant.
And it is one of my biggest beefs with the world of science that
they do not study the near death experience, whether or not there
is a soul, etc., using the excuse that this is not a topic for
science, but one for religion. It is only sitting within the bailiwick
of religion – belief – because science refuses to
investigate it.
But not believing in god is a belief. Atheism is a belief there
is no God. Maher and several other atheists state that they would
gladly accept there is a God, if Jesus were somehow to come along
for a Second Coming and thus show evidence of his existence. But
it doesn’t work like that. The question of God really has
nothing to do with whether or not Jesus comes back.
So why is atheism a religion? It is, if only because they believe
there is no evidence for God. But what is evidence? Are we seriously
considering that “proof of God” equals “Jesus’
Second Coming”? That is simplistic. In essence, the belief
in God is that there is a higher force that has created and may
guide life – and as a result human beings – on this
planet, if not throughout the universe.
It is my belief that in the past, we were contacted by a number
of non-human intelligences, like Viracocha, Quetzalcoatl and Oannes.
These beings, our ancestors told us, taught us art but also morals.
It is because of the latter that they were classified as gods.
And in the Hermetic tradition, the wisdom tradition of the ancient
Egyptians, we are told that the gods taught us about God. So if
God was indeed an invention, it was an invention of the gods,
and not so much our ancestors.
Some will jump on this to argue that God was therefore a suppression
mechanism to keep our ancestors under control, but studying the
Hermetica makes it clear that this is not at all the case. God
was seen as a creating and guiding force, and at no point are
there references to obedience or punishments. Instead, what we
have are statements that we are closest to God when we create,
innovate and think along those lines, rather than fall in repetition,
fear and destruction. In fact, the ancient Egyptians did not have
a word for religion; for them, the divine was not about belief,
but about experiencing the world by creating, for God was a creator
deity and best understood by the act of creation – one of
the reasons why the arts were deemed to be so important.
Sadly, what atheists like Gervais and Maher share is a need to
proclaim the dogma of atheism vociferously, on par with many of
the fundamentalist right. In the case of Maher, he even sinks
as low as putting on a magician’s hat and literal “mumbo
jumbo” in efforts to substantiate his claims. It is belittling,
rather than what he would see as “making a point”.
There is a difference between being non-religious and an atheist.
The main difference, in fact, seems to be that the atheist is
on a crusade. In medieval times, the crusaders thought they were
fighting evil; the atheists believe they are fighting religion.
But in both cases, they are two shades of the same color.

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About Me

Philip Coppens is an author and investigative journalist, ranging from the world of politics to ancient history and mystery. He co-hosts The Spirit Revolution radio show with his wife Kathleen McGowan and is a frequent contributor to NEXUS Magazine and Atlantis Rising Magazine. Since 1995, he has lectured extensively and has appeared in a number of television and DVD documentaries, including Ancient Aliens: The Series (The History Channel). He is the author of nine English-language books, including The Stone Puzzle of Rosslyn Chapel, The New Pyramid Age, Servants of the Grail,Killing Kennedy, The Cryptogram of Rennes-le-Chateau, The Ancient Alien Question and The Lost Civilization Enigma.